“Power concedes nothing without a demand,” abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass declared 161 years ago.
Last week saw that truth on broad display as Amazon, facing growing political and organizing pressure, announced it was setting a minimum wage of $15 an hour for its U.S. workforce and also raising wages in England. »

It was a decisive moment in the West Virginia teachers strike. State union leaders, presenting a deal that would leave out some public sector workers, were greeted with a chorus of “back to the table!” »

Union women are leading labor forward. You can see it in the flurry of teacher strikes—Los Angeles teachers were the latest to authorize one—and in the September walkout by McDonald’s workers in many major cities, an anti-sexual harassment action linked to the Fight for $15. »

A group of West Virginia teachers, including rank-and-file leaders of the nine-day strike earlier this year, have launched a cross-union caucus.
WV United aims “to keep people fired up and keep working together,” said Jay O’Neal, who teaches eighth grade in Charleston. »

Why have New York City public defenders been walking out of the courts in the middle of the day to hold spirited demonstrations in support of their clients?
The outcry began last November when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were reported to lurk in the vicinity of the courts, targeting people as they entered or exited court proceedings. »

Earlier this week, the U.S. and Mexico announced an agreement to update parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Below we publish an English translation of a statement from Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, president of Los Mineros (the National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel, and Related Workers of the Mexican Republic), on the deal.»

It has become a movement mantra, as labor suffers betrayal after betrayal by Democrats and Republicans alike: union members should run for office themselves.
Rhetoric on this subject is cheap and easy. But running successful candidates is not. Even labor activists with considerable skill and experience have found it difficult to win public office. »

Why are some union leaders saying public sector workers shouldn’t have the right to strike?
We expect it from conservatives like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who told the Post that ending the state’s ban on public sector strikes would “turn New York into Venezuela.” »